Strange Things Happen When You Least Expect Em II
by Karania Avalon
Summary: (this picks up where the first book left off) After being rescued by Maxie, Rosella now needs to rethink how she charges into things. Plus, she can't be sure that Archie has given up his hopes of taking her prisoner, so her best bet is to be careful.
1. The Recovery

Strange Things Happen When You Least Expect 'Em II 

Chapter 1

"The Recovery"

The next morning, Rosella woke up and found herself lying in the bed that Maxie had allowed her to use while she was with them.  She still felt sleepy, but she assumed that it was just a side effect of the potions she had been given recently.  

Just then there was a knock on the door and someone called, "Rosella, are you awake?"

"Yes."  Rosella replied.

Now the voice said, "Okay."  Before it asked, "Can I come in?"

"If you want."  Rosella replied tiredly.

Now the door opened and Maxie entered, and he walked over to the bed and looked down at her.

"Do you still feel tired?"  Maxie asked her.

"Yes, and I don't know why."  Rosella replied.

Now Maxie said, "It's probably just side effects from the potions you were forced to take.  You should rest, and I'll make sure that you're cared for until the side effects wear off."

"Okay."  Rosella replied.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to go get you something to eat."  Maxie said.

"Okay."  Rosella said.

Maxie left her room and returned a few minutes later with some cereal for her, and he gave it to Rosella.

"There you go, eat up now."  Maxie said.

Rosella sat up to eat and ate her breakfast, then she handed the bowl back to Maxie and laid back, and Maxie set the bowl down and tucked her in some more.

"Why don't you get some more sleep?  I'll check in on you periodically to see how you're doing."  Maxie asked.

Rosella closed her eyes and fell asleep, and Maxie picked up the bowl and left her room.  True to his word, Maxie did check in on her, but Rosella didn't awaken again until the next morning.  The next day, Maxie came to check on her and brought her some food to eat, and she ate it when Maxie gave it to her.

Now Maxie asked after she'd eaten, "Do you feel any better now?"

"Yes, I feel a lot better now."  Rosella replied.

"Good, then you may resume your journey, and for heaven's sakes be careful!  I won't always be here to rescue you, you know."

"I'll try." Rosella replied.

Now Maxie said, "I don't want you to try, I want you to promise me that you'll be careful."

"Okay, I promise."  Rosella replied.

"Good.  Now come on, I'll take you as far as the Petalburg Beach, then I'll leave you."  Maxie said.

Rosella climbed out of bed and picked up her backpack, and followed Maxie out her room and out of his base.  Maxie took Rosella through Mauville City, into Veranturf, went through the cave, walked into Rustboro and walked through it and out of Rustboro, and into the Petalburg Forest, before Maxie took Rosella close to the Petalburg Beach.

"This is as far as I'll go with you.  Remember to be careful."  Then with that, Maxie left Rosella.


	2. A New Threat

Chapter 2 

Once Maxie had left her, Rosella located the seashore cottage that Steven had mentioned before she had been captured, and knocked on the door.  

Mr. Briney opened the door, "Oh, and how may I help you lass?"

Then he said, "Wait a minute……..  You're Rosella!  Let me guess you were hoping that I could help you get to Dewford, is that it?"

"If you would."  Rosella replied.

"That's no problem, lass, I'll be glad to take you."  Mr. Briney said.

"Okay, thank you."  Rosella said.

"Come on, lass, let's head on over there right now."  Mr. Briney said.

They both walked outside and boarded Mr. Briney's boat, and shortly afterward they were off towards Dewford.  They arrived in port at Dewford around mid-day, and Mr. Briney nodded to Rosella and said, "Meet me back here, lass, when you want to head back to Petalburg."

"Okay, I will."  Rosella replied.

Rosella now disembarked from the ship and walked to the Pokemon Center, where she got her pokemon healed before she headed on to the gym.  Rosella walked through the hallways of the gym until she finally found the Gymleader.

Brawly looked up, "Ah, a challenger."  Then his eyes widened in recognition, "Hang on a second…….  You were adopted by Lance and Lorelei of the Elite Four."

"I know……  Why does everyone keep bringing that up?  I can't get any peace because of that fact……."  Rosella said.

"Don't worry, people will get over it in a matter of time, so don't worry.  Now, you want to battle, right?"

Rosella nodded.

"Good, we'll have a 2 on 2 battle.  I'll start with Makuhita!"  Brawly threw his poke ball, and a Makuhita emerged from it.

"Okay, I choose Sparkle."  Rosella said while throwing her poke ball.

Her Flaafy appeared from it's poke ball and faced Makuhita.

"Interesting choice……..  This should be good…….  I've never seen one of those in action before."  Brawly said.

"Anyways, Makuhita use Arm Thrust!!"  Brawly ordered.

"Agility, Sparkle!"  Rosella countered.

"Argh!  I wasn't expecting that!  Makuhita use Arm Thrust again!"  Brawly said.

"Quick Attack."  Rosella countered.

Arm Thrust missed, and Sparkle charged forward and sent Makuhita flying.

"Now Sparkle, use Spark attack!"  Rosella cried.

Sparkle released a strong burst of electricity, and this time Makuhita didn't get up.

"Oh, no!  Makuhita return……"  Brawly said.

"Okay, one down on my part, and……  What the!?"

Sparkle was glowing.

"It's evolving!"  Rosella cried happily.

"Let's see what it turns into."  Brawly said.

A minute later, Sparkle stopped glowing and was no longer a Flaafy, but an Ampharos.

"Wow!  Amazing, your pokemon obviously love you.  Anyways let's continue.  Machop you're up!"  Brawly threw his final poke ball and a Machop emerged from it.

"Good work, Sparkle, come back."  Rosella said.

Rosella recalled her pokemon and sent out her Bayleef.

"Oy!  Just when I thought I had a plan, you switched pokemon…….  Oh well………  Machop, use Karate Chop!"  Brawly commanded.

"Double Team, Bayley."  Rosella said calmly.

"Argh!  Machop, attack the image on the left!"

Machop attacked the image on the left and the image faded away revealing air.

"Darn, I was sure it was there……."  Brawly said.

"Bayley, use Leaf Blade!"  Rosella ordered.

Bayley's vines shot out and struck Machop three times in a cross pattern.  After attacking Bayley went back into its Double Team position.

"Dang it!  One more attack like that and I'm toast……"  Brawly thought.

"Machop, use Low Kick on the image on the right!"

Machop attacked the image and once again it only revealed air.

"Not again!"  Brawly exclaimed.

"Okay, Bayley, use Leaf Blade again.  Rosella cried.

"Oh dear…….  I'm a goner……..  I'm pretty sure that'll be her winning move……."  Brawly thought.

Once again, Bayley shot out its vines and struck Machop three times in a cross pattern.  Machop couldn't take anymore and fainted.

"Machop return……..  Well that settles that, you won!  Now I need to give you something."  Brawly reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a badge.  "This is the Knuckle Badge, I want you to take it and wear or carry it proudly."  Brawly said.

Rosella took the badge from Brawly and put it in the side pocket of her bag.

"Take care now, and come visit me if you're in the area."  Brawly said.

Rosella now left the gym and headed towards the dock and saw Mr. Briney standing on the dock waiting for her.

"Hello, lass, how'd it go?"  He asked.

"I won!"  Rosella replied happily.

"That's great news!  Come on, let's head back to Petalburg."  

Just then a ship with the Aqua logo appeared on the horizon.

"Hurry lass!  Inside and go to the bottom level of my ship!  I won't let anything happen to you, but just in case have one of your pokemon out."

Rosella ran into the cabin, lifted up a floorboard with Mr. Briney's help, and climbed down into the hull of the ship.  Once she was down there, Mr. Briney replaced the floorboard and walked back outside so as to act like he was waiting for someone.  The Team Aqua ship pulled up to the dock and two members jumped off onto the dock and faced Mr. Briney.

"What brings you here?"  Mr. Briney asked.

"Mind your own business!"  The grunt snapped.

"This is his business, he has a right to know what we're looking for."  An Admin said.

"Really?"  MR. Briney asked feigning interst.

"Yeah, anyways we're here looking for a little girl named Rosella."  The Admin said.

"What do you want her for?"  Mr. Briney asked.

~*~

Down in the hull Rosella was hearing all this.  "Great…….  They must want me because I escaped from them……."  Rosella thought.

~*~

"We can't tell your that.  However, you can tell us if you've seen her."  The Admin said.

"Sorry to say, I haven't seen her."  Mr. Briney lied to protect her.

"Very well, then you won't mind if we search your vessel now will you?"  The Admin asked.

"Hold it right there, Team Aqua!"  Some voices said.

Everyone turned around to see a group of Team Magma agents that were being led by Maxie.

"Hah!  Yeah right. Like we'd stop for you…….."  The Aqua Admin said.

"You're still after Rosella, aren't you?"  Maxie asked.

"So what if we are?"  The Team Aqua Admin shot back.

~*~

Down in the hull, Rosella was hearing everything that was going on, and became really afraid when they mentioned searching Mr. Briney's ship.  Rosella heard Maxie's voice and she wondered what he was doing out here, and how he knew that Team Aqua would be here.

~*~

"Argh!  Fine, we'll pull out this time, but don't think you won't see us again; or think that Rosella's safe because she isn't."  The Admin said.

Now the Team Aqua members boarded their ship and headed for Staleport.

Once they'd left, Maxie looked at Mr. Briney and said, "Don't tell me that they got Rosella…….."

"They didn't get here, she's safely down in the hull of my ship.  I had her go down there when we saw their ship approaching."  Mr. Briney said.

Maxie and Mr. Briney walked into the cabin and they lifted up the floorboard that covered the entrance to the hull.

"Rosella, they're gone, it's safe to come up now."  Mr. Briney called down to her.

They heard footsteps as Rosella walked to the ladder.  A minute or so later Rosella's head appeared through the opening in the floor.  Rosella continued to climb up and when she started to fall back down the ladder, Maxie grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up and set her on the cabin floor.

"Thank god, they didn't get you again."  Maxie said to Rosella.

"I'm a little shaken, but other than that I'm fine."  Rosella said.

"Good."  Maxie said.

"So Rosella how are things going for you?"  Maxie asked.

"I've gotten two new badges since the last time you've seen me."  Rosella replied.

"Glad to hear it."  Maxie said.

"By the way, Sparkle evolved."

"Sparkle?"  Maxie asked.

"Sparkle was my Flaafy, but it's now an Ampharos."  Rosella replied.

"Awesome."  Mr. Briney said.

"It sure is.  Now take care of yourself since they haven't given up their hopes of capturing you."  Maxie said.

"I will."  Rosella promised.

Maxie now left the cabin, and headed back to what he had been checking into before Team Aqua had arrived.  Now that the threat was gone, there was only one thing left to do; return to Petalburg.


	3. A Challenge Refused

Chapter 3 

Mr. Briney took Rosella back to Petalburg, and they arrived at the dock near Mr. Briney's house in the late afternoon.  After they docked, they both left the ship.

"Here we are, lass, Petalburg City.  Be careful now and try not to go to Staleport for a while since Team Aqua might be waiting for you there."  Mr. Briney said, looking at Rosella with concern in his eyes.

"Okay, I won't go to Staleport any time soon, and thank you for taking me to Dewford."  Rosella said.

"It was no problem, I love sailing so it pleased me to get out and sail again.  Take care now, lass."  Mr. Briney now went back inside his house and Rosella walked into Petalburg.

As soon as Rosella entered Petalburg she went to the Pokemon Center and got her pokemon healed before she challenged the local Gym Leader.  When her pokemon had been healed, she headed over to the gym to see if she could get another badge.  Rosella entered and Norman looked up, "Ah, a little challenger I assume, right?"

Rosella nodded and Norman said, "I should tell you though that I only accept challenges from people with four badges."

"I have four badges."  Rosella replied softly.

"May I see them?"  Norman asked.

Rosella pulled her badges out of her side pocket and held them out.  "Wait a minute……  You have four badges, but only two of them are Hoenn League badges; I'm sorry, I can't accept your challenge based on that fact."  Norman said.

Rosella looked disappointed as she put her badges away, and left the gym and walked back to the Pokemon Center and went inside and found a place to sit down.  When she had taken a seat, Nurse Joy walked over to her and handed her a note.  "Your dad wants you to call him, he said he's worried about you.  So you should call him."  Nurse Joy said.

Rosella nodded and Nurse Joy walked over to the counter to see to other injured pokemon.  Rosella now stood up and walked over to a videophone and called her dad's number.  The phone rang for a few minutes before her dad answered, "Rosella!?  I was worried that something had happened to you!  Thank god, you're okay!"  Lance exclaimed.

Rosella just sat before the videophone and waited for her dad to calm down, she still felt pretty lousy about having her challenge refused by the town's local Gym Leader, so she was relatively quiet.

After a few minutes, Lance calmed down, "What's wrong, honey, you're awfully quiet."

Rosella hesitated for a minute so her dad said, "Come on, you can tell me."

"I don't know how to say this, but I was kidnapped by Team Aqua just the other day."  Rosella replied, feeling her dad's reaction before he even gave it.

"What!?  Are you alright?"  Her dad asked.

"I'm fine, dad, except for the fact that Team Aqua is trying to capture me again."  Rosella replied, her voice shaking as she spoke.

"I'd be hugging you right now, if you were here with me."  Her dad replied.  "We may have to pull you off that journey too and send you back to the Johto region to keep you safe, as Team Rocket's given up on you.  We found that out the other day."

Rosella nodded and her dad smiled as he asked, "How's your badgequest coming along?"

"I got two new badges and was trying to go for my fifth when something happened……"  Rosella replied.

"What happened?"  Her dad asked.

"I went to challenge the Petalburg Gym Leader, and he said that he only accepted challenges from people with four badges; so I showed him my badges, and he refused my challenge when he saw my Johto League badges.  He said that they all had to be Hoenn League badges."  Rosella replied.

"That's ridiculous!  Any four badges will do, Hoenn League or not.  I'll get in touch with Norman and set him straight on this.  I'll have him come to the Pokemon Center and apologize to you, and have him accept your challenge."  Her dad replied, majorly irritated with what Rosella had just told him concerning Norman.  "Take care, Rosella, and be careful."  Her dad remarked thoughtfully.

"I will dad, I'll be careful and I won't go looking for trouble."  Rosella replied.

"Good, now be careful.  Oh, and by the way, I'm sending this item ball over, it contains something I want you to have."  Her dad said, holding up an item ball before he sent it over.  A few minutes later,  Rosella received the item ball.  "Open it, honey."  Her dad said.

Rosella pressed the button and it opened, thus revealing a pokegear.  "Oh, dad……..."  Rosella said surprised.

"Don't worry about it, I would rather hear from you than think that something happened to you.  Now you can call me more often, which is what I want you to do."  Her dad said.

Rosella put the pokegear around her neck and her dad said, "Good, I'll talk to you soon.  Oh, and by the way, don't go wandering off from the Pokemon Center because I'm going to tell Norman that he can find you there.  Alright, honey?"  Rosella's dad remarked thoughtfully.

"Okay, dad, I'll stay put for awhile until Norman comes looking for me."  Rosella replied after a pause.

"Talk to you later, honey, I've got to go."  Her dad replied.

"Bye dad."  Rosella responded automatically.

Rosella ended the call and stood up and was soon surrounded by a group of kids.  "Hey, you're Rosella; you're Lance and Lorelei's daughter.  What's it like growing up with famous parents."  A boy named Andrew asked.

"Actually, I never grew up with them, they adopted me when my parents died in a plane crash."  Rosella replied.

The kids were stunned.  "That's every child's dream!"  A girl named Amanda exclaimed.

"I suppose you're right."  Rosella replied.

"That'll be very interesting when you battle your own parents for the title……"  Another boy named John said.

"Yeah, that will be interesting."  Rosella replied.

"Though by the time you battle them, you might have totally redone your team."  A girl named Alisha said.

Rosella and the kids continued to chat for awhile until the kids had to go, and when they left Rosella went to take a seat to await Norman's arrival.  Exactly how long it would be until he arrived Rosella didn't know, she hoped it would be soon, but the only thing she could do at the moment was wait.


End file.
